Brooke Coe knows what it's like to fall hard for a gorgeous piece of furniture only to be put off by its price.
All too often she's said, "I can't afford that!"
But that doesn't happen anymore. Not since the 42-year-old Redondo Beach mother of two learned how to take hardwood board and turn it into one-of-a-kind pieces for her home.
"Really, a lot of people like me get started in woodworking out of necessity," says Coe, who has been known to retreat into her family's garage/workshop and surface with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that boast a traditional built-in look; and funky whimsical tables unlike any you'd find in a store.
She's not so unique.
For several years, women have been gaining on men in the home improvement arena. Big-name retailers have introduced products and programs designed especially for women, such as free Do-It-Herself Workshops at Home Depot. And the DIY blogosphere has more recently exploded with sites aimed at teaching women the necessary skills to tackle new territories like woodworking.
 |
| Author and blogger Ana White learned woodworking while building her home. |
"Making your own furniture is not a matter of muscles, it's a matter of experience and being shown how to use tools properly," says Ana White, author of "The Handbuilt Home: 34 Simple, Stylish and Budget-Friendly Woodworking Projects for Every Room" (Potter Craft, 2012), a companion to her popular ana-white.com blog.
Like the women who contributed designs to her book, the 32-year-old mother is relatively new to furniture making.
White got her start when she and her husband set out to build their three-bedroom, two-bath starter home in Alaska seven years ago. They couldn't afford contractors so it was just the two of them.
She started out by assisting her husband with simple tasks and eventually took on more active roles.
After the house was completed, the couple set out to furnish their new digs with hand-built pieces, including an $80 farmhouse-style bed whose easy-to-follow plans are featured in the book - the first in what she's hoping will be a series on woodworking at home.
Cindy Vargas, on the other hand, came to woodworking like many women do through art school. Though she says she got her first taste of it as one of "three brave souls" in middle-school wood shop in the early '70s.
Today, the studio furniture maker behind Three Elements Studio in Minnesota crafts a variety of custom furnishings, including lamps whose rich surfaces and interesting mosaic patterns would seamlessly blend into any Arts and Crafts-style interior.
"I can't tell you how many times I've heard that," says Vargas, who used to live in Pasadena and work out of a studio in Glendale. "They definitely have that craftsman flair to them."
Coe also designs pieces for sale through Huh? Designs, her interior design and custom furniture side business.
"There are people who will see something at Crate & Barrel that's not the right size so I make it for them," she says. "Maybe somebody wants a unique, stand-alone piece. I also do a lot of redos.
"I had tall and skinny Ikea cabinets and we had a flood in our house that ruined them," she says. "Instead of trashing my old cabinets I turned one of them on its side and then put lights on the bottom of it. I added doors that I built from some leftover wood. Now I have a whole new cabinet with a new feel."
For more information about the woodworking industry, visit www.lagunatools.com.
